Biel 2019 R02: Bogner's redemption and Leko's metamorphosis spruce up Biel!
Well, one doesn't lose forever. Sebastian Bogner, the current Swiss Champion taught us all how to overcome a rut by clinically destroying Parham Maghsoodloo's weak opening play to get back in contention. Sam Shankland had the chance of the round against Vidit, but the American failed to assess properly the best continuation available to him. Peter Leko continued his remarkable fable by turning a new leaf yet again - his game against Georgiadis lasted an epic 101 moves. Peter Leko, Sam Shankland and Vidit Gujrathi lead the classical section with four points. Peter Leko leads the overall standings with 14 points. Tanmay Srinath in an exhaustive report from Biel dissects today's play.
After four decisive games yesterday, the players were calmer today. Three games ended in interesting draws. Sam Shankland had the best chance of the round against Vidit Gujarathi, but the former US Champion missed a chance to start a ferocious attack involving a potential exchange sacrifice. Peter Leko tried for 101 moves to break through with Rook+Knight vs Rook, but Nico Georgiadis held firm to take home half a point. Jorge Cori had very little to play with as White against Abdusattorov, and soon took a draw. In the only decisive game of the round, Sebastian Bogner began his comeback with a fine win over Parham Maghsoodloo. Time to dig in:
Bogner 1-0 Maghsoodloo
After the storm, sunshine finally shone on the beleaguered Bogner. It was not some fantastic luck - he put his head down, got down to work and played one of his finest games to dismantle the current World Junior Champion. Here are a few critical moments:
Bogner-Maghsoodloo
Shankland 0.5-0.5 Vidit
The rating favourites have clashed early, and Sam put Vidit under a lot of pressure right from the get-go. Unfortunately for him, finishing the dogged Black player wasn't something he was able to accomplish today.
Shankland-Vidit
Leko 0.5-0.5 Georgiadis
This is a new Peter Leko we are seeing. Instead of agreeing to tame draws, he is fighting till bare kings these days. The low rating and lack of invitations are perhaps telling, but what I believe is that the man himself wants to make another surge to the top, and to do so he has to reinvent himself. So instead of his perennial 1.e4, he has played 1.d4 exclusively. While he didn't win today, he did play the longest game of the round, something we don't really associate with the Leko of the past. Credit to Nico as well, who defended a piece down for a long time without faltering.
Leko-Georgiadis
Cori 0.5-0.5 Abdusattorov
The game in itself was a disappointment for White, but credit must be given to the young Uzbek for his outstanding opening preparation.
Here is one point where Abdusattorov could have gotten ambitious:
Cori-Abdusattorov
Overall-Ranking
| Rank | Name | Games | Classic | Rapid | Blitz | Total |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | GM Peter Leko | 9 | 4 | 10 | 0 | 14 |
| 2 | GM Sam Shankland | 9 | 4 | 9 | 0 | 13 |
| 3 | GM Santosh Vidit | 9 | 4 | 8 | 0 | 12 |
| 4 | GM Parham Maghsoodloo | 9 | 3 | 8 | 0 | 11 |
| 5 | GM Jorge Cori | 9 | 1 | 7 | 0 | 8 |
| 6 | GM Nico Georgiadis | 9 | 1 | 6 | 0 | 7 |
| 7 | GM Nodirbek Abdusattorov | 9 | 1 | 5 | 0 | 6 |
| GM Sebastian Bogner | 9 | 3 | 3 | 0 | 6 |
About the Author
Tanmay Srinath is an 18-year-old chess player from Bangalore, Karnataka, currently pursuing both chess and engineering at BMSCE Bangalore. Tanmay is also a Taekwondo Black Belt, who has represented the country in an International Tournament in Thailand. He is a big fan of Mikhail Tal and Vishy Anand, and sincerely believes in doing his bit to Power Chess in India!
